Coffee and My Blood Sugars – Finally an answer
October 17th, 2007 by Chris SSo, I have been asking all around and trying to do research to find out what the effects of coffee are on my blood sugar levels. Some people say it doesn’t make a difference, some people tell me that the caffeine slows down the insulin, so when you eat while drinking coffee it will raise your blood sugar.
Well, I did the best research that anybody can do, and testing my sugars intensively on different occasions. First, I ate breakfast while drinking coffee. The results, my blood sugar levels stayed consistent, consistently normal that is.
Second, I ate without drinking any coffee to see how my sugars reacted to no coffee in my system. Same results, everything was normal.
I then decided to drink coffee and not eat anything at all. Today was the last day I did that and was all the proof that I needed for myself. Pre-coffee level was 96, which was as soon as I woke up and the coffee was brewing. At about 9:30 I just tested again and my sugar was 246! What the hell happened there. I have only one logical reasoning here.
When I am drinking coffee by itself, I do not calculate the amount of carbs I am taking in correctly and I do not take enough insulin and it makes my sugar go high. When I am eating, the calculations are more precise and my sugar levels do not go crazy on me. So from now on, I need to know for sure exactly how much insulin I need to take.
I use sugar free creamer and 2 sweet n’ low per cup of coffee. Maybe my problem is not considering the insulin I should be taking for the sweet n’ low, or should I be?
Posted in Blood Sugar Levels, General Information, Testing my Blood Sugar | 3 Comments »
October 17th, 2007 at 11:42 am
Hi Chris. I too experienced this w/ coffee and no food. But I’ve come to understand that even “sugar-free” foods are not necessarily carb free. I’ve also read (and believe from experience) that morning sugars are the hardest to bring down. It could be that there is little circulating insulin due to the dawn phenomenon, where the liver wipes out all the insulin when you first wake. You might want to take a unit or 2 of insulin with your coffee. Hope this helps. -Anthony
October 17th, 2007 at 12:38 pm
I agree with Anthony. I HAVE to bolus for creamer and splenda in my coffee first thing in the morning, even if it’s only 2-3 grams of carbo, or else I will be in the mid-200s or higher as soon as 30 minutes after drinking it.
October 17th, 2007 at 12:39 pm
Thank you Anthony for the information. I try to explain to people that sugar free doesn’t automatically mean a diabetic can eat it, the carbs are just made up in other forms other than sugar. Check out my past couple posts about the dawn phenomenon that I experience.